We have a date for a surgery consult at Cincinnati Children's/Brody doing well after stent replacement surgery he had Monday

We are scheduled for May 1st at Cincinnati Children's hospital to discuss Brody's surgery to remove as much of his tumor as possible.   We are hoping that we will be able to schedule surgery for sometime the week of May 19th or the next week after.   We have many worries about this surgery but we feel the potential benefits outweigh the potential risks.  

Brody had a smaller surgery earlier this week.  He had surgery to replace the stent in his ureter on Monday.  He has to have this replaced every 3 to 4 months.  His tumor is placing too much pressure on his ureter.  Without the stent in place, the ureter is not strong enough to stay open so that urine can drain from Brody's kidney to his bladder.  Unfortunately, the stents cannot stay in indefinitely and do need replaced periodically.  Brody did well with his surgery.  It hurts really bad for him to go pee the first few times after the surgery.  He dreads this part and says it feels like a bee stinging him over and over again when he pees.  He expected it to hurt and was super tough and got through it anyway.  He is able to go potty now comfortably again.  

Brody is not looking forward to his major surgery coming up but he has not given up his battle against cancer and knows that this is best chance to gain significant ground in this battle.  He also remembers how incredibly miserable he was when his tumor was only slightly bigger than it currently is.  He was in a lot of pain and did not have control of his bladder or bowels.  Just the slightest increase in the size of Brody's tumor and he could be right back in this situation again. Brody is also having a lot swelling still in his groin area due to pressure from the tumor.  It makes him pretty uncomfortable at times.  He is hoping that this improves after surgery.  We were encouraged to learn too from the urologist on Monday that Brody may not need the stent in his ureter anymore after the surgery to remove his tumor.  Brody would like to not have to keep having that surgery every 3 to 4 months.  He knows there are lots of things that could possibly go wrong during the surgery to remove his tumor and that it will be a tough road to recovery from the surgery.  The alternative of not doing the surgery and all the things that could go wrong without doing it are more worrisome for him though.  He also know that he may go through this massive surgery and the tumor may still come back.  He has already had 2 prior major surgeries to remove his tumor and twice the tumor has come back with a vengeance.  These surgeries added a significant amount of time of Brody being here with us and enjoying life though.  Even if it does come back, and we know it's very likely that it will, we hope to at least gain a significant amount of time that we would probably not get otherwise.  

Brody was excitedly planning a party this evening.  He wants to have sleep-over party with his friends before he has to have his big surgery.  He was making quite the large list of friends and planning out foods and activities.  It was fun seeing him so excited about it and listing lots of fun things he has done in the past that he somehow wants to make happen at his party too.  We have to pick a date that will be during a time he is strong enough for the party and before his surgery.  He really only has a few days each month that he is healthy enough to have a party.  Anyhow, I know Brody will have me nailing down plans and a date tomorrow.